Police log

Posted
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 1:00 pm

The Police Log is a digest of reports filed by the Warwick Police

AMBITIOUSOfficer Christian Vargas reported he was dispatched to the Warwick Mall on Oct. 17 for a shoplifting in progress at the Macy’s store. Dispatch had informed him that a suspect was walking around the store with a carriage full of merchandise in bags arranged to appear paid for. He said they stopped the woman as she came out of the store wheeling a cart that was almost overflowing with merchandise. A loss prevention agent for the store told police she earlier tried to wheel the cart out before anything was paid for by telling an agent she needed to get something out of her car. When she was told she could not take the goods outside with her, she went back into the store and continued to shop. This time, according to loss prevention, she put up all the merchandise in shopping bags, paid for a small amount of them and then went on to the service desk for another minor transaction before wheeling the cart outside, where police stopped her. Vargas said they recovered about 53 unpaid-for items worth $1,162.79 form the cart. Jessica M. Strumar, 31, of 31 Payne St. in Cranston was taken to headquarters and charged with shoplifting. She was later released on $1,000 surety bail.

CLUMSYOfficer Quentin Tavares reported that he was dispatched to Macy’s to arrest a suspect accused of shoplifting and damaging merchandise in the attempt. A loss prevention agent told him she saw him go into the men’s department where he selected a baseball cap and attempted unsuccessfully to remove the security tag and got ink on the hat, so he abandoned the cap and went to the jewelry department and attempted to take some bracelets and necklaces from a display that required a key to release and tore apart all the items he was trying to take but concealed them in his pocket anyway. They stopped him outside and estimated he did damage to or stole $739 worth of store property, including the baseball cap at $24. Brandon Viccione, 27, of 90 Doane St. in Cranston was charged with malicious damage and shoplifting and then transported to the ACI as a probation violator.

SHOPLIFTINGA Providence man was accused of exchanging his own footwear for a new pair of Fila sneakers at the JC Penney store in the Warwick Mall and attempting to walk out without paying for the shoes on Oct. 17. James Potter, 20, of 784 Walnut St. was charged with shoplifting and held for the bail commissioner.A Warwick woman was charged with shoplifting on Oct. 17 after loss prevention at the Wal-Mart store on Post Road told police they saw her conceal two cosmetic items in her purse that she did not pay for when she checked out of the store. Angela M. Buehne, 33, of 40 Chester Ave. was later released with a summons.Vanessa M. Jones, 18, of 30 Cheshire St. in Providence was charged with stealing nine items of clothing from the Target store in the Warwick Mall on Oct. 16. Police said the loss prevention agent observed her as she walked through the store and had followed her actions on video on other occasions. She was charged with stealing $88.65.A Pawtucket man was charged with stealing $471.08 worth of goods from the Wal-Mart store on Bald Hill Road on Oct. 18. Loss prevention at the store told police they saw a man come into the store and load a cart with certain products and then leave the cart in one of the aisles. They said he then went to the front and got another cart that he filled with items similar to the ones he left in the aisle and then paid for them. They said he met up with his friend in the parking lot and gave him the receipt. Loss prevention said the second man then came and retrieved the first cart and was wheeling it out the door when police, who had been called after loss prevention determined what they saw was suspicious activity, met him. Officer Manuel Pacheco said the man, identified as Nelson Amaral, 37, of 95 Denver St. in Pawtucket, showed him a receipt for $279.63 for what loss prevention added up to $471.08 worth of items that were in the cart. He was charged with felony shoplifting and conspiracy as a habitual offender and remanded to the ACI with $5,000 surety bail. His accomplice, Alexander Gutierrez, 31, of 15 McCabe St. in Cranston was charged with conspiracy to shoplift.

NO LICENSEOfficer Nadine Pallini reported she was on patrol on Airport Road around 8 p.m. on Oct. 14 when she saw a car accelerate away from the intersection of Post and Airport at a high rate of speed. She said she clocked it at 51 miles per hour in a 35-mile-per-hour zone but had to wait until she reached Warwick Avenue to do a traffic stop because of the roadwork that was being done. She said the driver told her he was being chased and that was why he was speeding. She said she did a check on his license and learned it was suspended. She said she also learned he had prior arrests for drug possessions, including one in September of this year. She said he was being arrested for driving on a suspended license and she called a K-9 to check the 2012 Ford Mustang for drugs after he consented to a search. She said they didn’t find any drugs so he was just charged with speeding and driving on a suspended license. The car was secured in the parking lot and Eddie Jackson Jr. of 17 Jewell St. in Providence was released with a summons.

DUI AND REFUSALOfficer Timothy Kenyon reported he stopped a car doing 58 miles per hour on Greenwich Avenue around 1:20 a.m. on Oct. 13. He said the driver told him she didn’t know she was speeding and she didn’t know the limit because she was not from around the area. He said her speech was slurred and she appeared to be under the influence and he asked her to take a field sobriety test. He said she started laughing and he asked why and she replied she could not believe that “this was happening.” He said she failed the field sobriety test and refused to take a breath test at headquarters. He said a bag of leafy substance they found tested positive for marijuana and she was charged with possession of three grams of marijuana, DUI and refusal. Kenyon said her two passengers were given a ride to Denny’s on Bald Hill Road to await their ride and the driver was held for the bail commissioner. Rachel M. Latessa, 26, of 119 Wyola Rd. in Swansea was later released on $2,000 surety bail.Officer James Wenneman reported he was dispatched to the Shell station at 2025 Post Rd. around 6 p.m. Oct. 16 for a report of an intoxicated man who was stumbling in the parking lot before he got into a black Jeep. He said he was looking for the suspect vehicle when he heard two other officers stopped it after it almost backed up into a squad car. Wenneman said he asked the man where he was coming from and he said a local hotel. He said he smelled of alcohol and was swaying back and forth. He said he asked him if he had been drinking and the man replied, “Too much.” He said the driver failed a field sobriety and was taken to headquarters where he refused a breath test. Philip J. Halverson, 33, of 828 Charles St. in Providence was charged with DUI and refusal and later released to a sober adult.